Fighter of Time/Chapter 13: Last Memories
Yoko shoved Autum forward. She tumbled unsteadily frontward. She had no way to brace or steady herself as her arms were shackled behind her back and her body was worn down from its injuries; she was so miserably tattered and torn. This once friend and this replacement; these elites; Yoko and Tae were forcing her to walk and it was pushing her body far past its limits. She closed her eyes hoping to find relief from the indescribable pain in her legs. The weight on them was driving an agonizing burning throb through her system as her legs wobbled and trembled from weakness. She held her tongue in her pride; refusing to cry out or show any sign that she was in agony, though it was quite obvious by the way she struggled walking. Eznik looked over at his sister. He knew this day would come though he’d always prayed that it would never come down to this. He couldn’t stand to see his sister treated this way. He wished he could help her, but the two Elites seemed fascinated in watching Autum being tortured by her wounds. They seemed to be getting a real kick out of it though Autum refused to let them see her true anguish. What a brave girl, he thought. He used to see it as rebellious stubbornness but now he realized the sense in her antics. It was the way she needed to be in this lifestyle she had chosen to live. He glanced around the hallway they were led into. It appeared overly eerier to him; as if it was a graveyard in waiting. The two were escorted by these two heartless elites to an abandoned part of the station where only vacant deserted shops stood. Their footsteps hauntingly resonated down the hall as if echoing the footfalls of death. A group of about 15 soldiers stood down at the end of the hall waiting for them. They were garbed in black armor as if they were death’s keepers. They all had on black helmets with visors. Each one of them holding a gun; it was clear they weren’t going to take any chances with these prisoners. A man with no helmet stepped out of the group of soldiers. He had white hair and looked to be in his late sixties. On the shoulder of his uniform were a couple of distinct symbols; revealing his rank as Commander. He stood in front, letting it be known that he was in charge as he awaited the group’s arrival. He studiously studied the four as they walked down the hall towards him. Once they got to the man Yoko kicked the back of Autum’s leg collapsing her to her knees as she let a small labored moan. She closed her eyes as the raw pain was getting too much for her to bear. She never thought her life would come to this; bowing down in humiliation to the government. She always thought she’d go out fighting. She looked up at the older man Yoko had kicked her down in front of. She then closed her eyes. She knew this man from one of the wars she had fought in. He was once her commander. Eznik glanced down sorrowfully at his sister. He’d never felt so pathetically useless. He bent down next to her. “Are you going to be able to hold out?” he quietly whispered to her. He glanced up at the man who stood in front of them. He didn’t care if he was punished for attending to her. Autum nodded faintly to her brother. She was trying to hold in the screams of pain that flooded her body while at the same time she fought to stay conscious. She appreciated her brother’s support more than she ever had before. She now realized through the years she had truly overlooked how much she valued his concern. The Commander bent down in front of them. He scoured over them with a contemptible look of arrogance on his face. His attention then went to Autum. He grabbed her by the chin and jerked her face into the position where she was forced to look at him. Eznik turned away not wanting to watch his sister be humiliated. Autum opened her eyes glaring hatefully at this man with her blue-webbed eyes. She was in more pain that she could describe and now she was being mocked by old painful memories. “Well it seems the fates are with me. I never thought I’d to see you again Autum. You’ve grown since I saw you last. Let’s see, if I remember correctly you were in your teen’s then.” he spouted with a sarcastic glee to his voice. “You’ve gotten even more reckless it seems. I guess losing your fingers wasn’t a sufficient enough lesson for you. You always liked to toy with death and this time you finally managed to find it. You will not escape it this time.” he laughed out in a gruff tone. Autum sneered at him. She barked out something coldly rancorous in another language. The man chuckled as he spitefully jolted her head as pulled his hand from her chin releasing her. He stood back up looking over at the two that had delivered these felons to them. Yoko and Tae, they were the rumored Elites; the government’s pets. He was supposed to be impressed but he wasn’t. He studied the two as he then commented self-importantly “We can take it from here.” Just then Yoko’s attention went to an alleyway where he heard some clatter going on. He couldn’t believe what he saw. It was Celtic and he was dragging the young teen, he had been fighting, behind him. He shook his head in disbelief at what an idiot his ‘former’ coworker was. “That young boy is from a non merge.” addressed Yoko as his eyes went from Celtic to the old man. “So Commander, you can use that against the good doctor as well. It should allow you to hold him longer for questioning.” He then stood watching the idiot Celtic. He’d always known that Celtic was an idiot but this topped everything that devil had done before as far as idiocy. The Commander nodded as he looked at the approaching Devil elite who had apparently from the impression he got from Yoko crossed the line of betrayal. He then looked to Link; his seemingly ‘forced’ ally. He figured he must be the non merge alien. He rose up his hand and the soldiers moved up behind him as he laughed out. This would be a simple task. He thought the elites were these great strategic warriors but here this devil was making it so easy for them. It was clear who had the odds; all they had to do was take care of the two newcomers and then turn in Autum and her brother and his day would be complete. The Commander put down his hand and the soldiers raised their guns at the two renegades as they continued to advance. The question now was just how the Commander was going to play his cards. He glanced over at Yoko as he had walked back over to join his colleague, Tae. They then turned and walked away. Their assignment was already completed; turn over their ex-coworker and the doctor to the Commander and his troops. The elites were known for doing exactly what they were told and absolutely nothing beyond. The Commander wasn’t worried for he knew that his troops could take care of these two foolish renegades advancing; it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Celtic looked ahead; his heart racing. The odds against the two of them were much more ominous than he had calculated. He thought they’d be taking on Tae and Yoko not a whole troop of armed soldiers. He let go of Link’s arm and shoved him behind him. He made sure he stayed in front of Link just in case they decided to shoot. He’d rather not watch this teen end up as a pin cushion. Autum and Eznik looked down the alley at the two running towards them. Autum’s heart wrenched. They were going to get killed! There was no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. Celtic truly was an idiot! He didn’t even bother to make any plan in what he was doing! She couldn’t believe she was actually married to such a moron. No…her brother had to be lying. No way would she fall for such an idiot as this Celtic. Still she couldn’t stand the thought that she might have to sit and watch him and Link be killed in front of her. Her anguish bled into her already overly-pained body. Eznik watched Celtic and Link as they continued forward. What in the world were they thinking? He was hoping they would come to their rescue but he knew neither of them stood a chance against these odds. He prayed that Celtic did not get Link killed since Link had never even been introduced to guns. He wasn’t prepared for such a fight. The bullets would rip through his body killing him without him even having a clue as to what was happening. Eznik bit his lip trying to think of something that he could do to stop this massacre. There just had to be something. Link eyed Celtic. It was clear the devil knew more than he was letting on although it seemed obvious they were outnumbered and this was a losing battle they were running to. He wondered just what the devil had planned. Link studied the soldiers up ahead. They were holding some type of strange weapon. It reminded him of a crossbow by the way they held the weapon; aiming. He knew it wasn’t arrows they shot, so what those things were exactly, he wasn’t quite sure. But with the soldiers having their fingers on the triggers, Link knew that they had to be some type of long range weapons like a crossbow. He immediately assumed from the technology he had seen in this dimension and by the way the soldiers were outfitted; fully clad: that these weapons had to be much faster and deadlier than a crossbow. Eznik looked at the soldiers. It looked like this was going to be a shoot out. The damn Commander seemed more involved in his sister’s detainment than to be bothered with Celtic and Link’s capture. He had to think of something fast to save the two. Suddenly, a light bulb moment hit although it was only for Link’s defense. “You can’t kill that non merger.” Eznik expressed urgently to the Commander looking up at him. “If you do, you fail regulations. That means your breaking code; the governments’ set laws. And more importantly the boy plays a very specific and imperative role in his dimension. You kill him and you will disrupt the balance. You know what kind of trouble you will be in then.” The Commander peered down at the doctor. Unfortunately he was right; killing a non merger would lead to problems, and if the doctor wasn’t lying about this teen being important to his dimension; he’d find himself in some pretty hot water. It would be in vain trying to cover up such a blunder. He would have to follow protocol for the non merger teen. As for the traitor of the elites, the devil’s execution would be justified. So it was ok to kill him here and now; actually it was mandate. Turncoats are sent to their graves; this was the government’s decree. The Commander looked to the soldier to his right. “I want you to tranq the non merger. Deal with him like we do all the other non mergers. I rather not screw this up and break regulations. I’m not in the mood to clean up messes.” the Commander coolly commented as he then with a stern determined look focused on Celtic. He was going to crush that cockroach. Whatever his cause it didn’t matter to him. All he knew was that he was going to put this traitor in his place. The government was quite specific about traitors; no cockroaches allowed to live for this pestilence tends to multiply. Celtic’s eye caught the Commander’s lethal gaze. It was as if death was staring right at him. “Link… I want you to turn and run. Don’t look back; just keep going no matter what you hear. Keep running! Get back to the ship, look for a blue button and push it.” His voice was low, and the tone seemed to be a desperate plea to the teen. Link stared back at the devil. Was he going to do something stupid and get himself killed? He couldn’t! Not in front of his wife, Autum. She waited so long to find out who he was and retrieve her memories. And now he was going to get himself killed! “Celtic, you can’t do whatever you’re thinking. Just come back with me to the ship. We can rethink this and find a different way to help Autum.” he begged. Celtic looked at the teen with all seriousness. “If I turn and run with you I die. There is no way out for me but at least you can get out of this hell hole. You don’t want these people to get hold of you. They will tear you apart to find out what you know and who you are.” Celtic glanced back at the soldiers. “NOW RUN DAMN IT! RUN!” Celtic shouted as he turned and darted at the Commander, his fist ready to plow into the man’s face. “FIRE! KILL THE TRAITOR!!” the Commander shouted out as Celtic did the only thing he could think of, a suicide run, to hopefully save the boy. At least this time it was his life that would be in the balance, not anyone else’s, just his. The thought of that brought a kind of peace to him. He would no longer be the pawn he had been all of his life; what a relief. He took his life into his own hands and made a choice that would be the end of him; still that seemed to be the only answer. Link looked at Celtic dart into death’s hands. The teen turned to run, his heart racing not wanting to know what was going to happen. His heart cried knowing the devil was running to his death. He heard the loud shots fire over and over. The piercing bangs disheartening. Link closed his eyes trying to maintain his sanity for he could hear the bullets rip into Celtic’s flesh. Link just then felt something hit him in the back. It was accompanied by a sharp radiating pain. He opened his eyes gasping from the shock of the pain. He’d been hit. Link stumbled forward. He had to keep going no matter what. He would not let Celtic’s sacrifice go unanswered; he had to make it to the ship. He could hear Celtic’s screams from the shots being fired into him. The sound of such was sickening to the young blonde weighing on him heavily. Then abruptly, everything started to go black. Looking ahead the teen was almost out of the alley. He had to keep going, he had to make it. But his body tumbled from below him. He hit the ground, out cold, unable to protect himself from the fate to come. He, as well, had fallen to the government. --------------------------------- A cool breeze ran over the teen’s face. Link opened his eyes looking up at the tree that was above him. Sitting up he looked around at his surroundings. He was near the lake that he was fishing at before all of it started. He looked up to the sky as storm clouds started to move in towards him. Link looked down at Navi who was peacefully sleeping on his hat. He grabbed the master sword that was sheathed. He put it on his back. He glanced out at the horizon as if he was waiting from someone to show up. He shook the thought away; though it seemed to continue to bother him. It seemed he lived this already but it wasn’t going the same way as before. He felt rather disorientated. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but everything seemed wrong or out of place or something. He just didn’t know what it was. Link got to his feet peering out into the field. A sickly feeling ran though his body and mind. His guess was that the dreamless rest he had was getting to him. He was use to the vivid dreams of his past lives, pacing through his mind but his mind just felt void. It was unsettling. Navi let out a small yawn as she woke stretching her arms as she sat up looking at Link. He seemed lost in his thoughts. She grabbed his hat and flew up next to him. “Bad dreams again?” Navi questioned her companion. She watched him take his hat from her. Link put on his hat. He moved it around adjusting it to his liking. “No, just had a dreamless sleep. It’s a different feeling to wake up to. I guess that’s my problem.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke. He studied the clouds overhead instead. “I guess we should head off before the storm hits. “ Navi nodded a little. “I’m sure Ollin is waiting for us. We did tell him that we would be there today or no later than tomorrow morning. And the faster we get there, the faster we get to have a great meal! I’m sure he’ll cook us a huge dinner if we get there in time!” she said with a smile. Link nodded. He patted down his green tunic to knock the dirt off of it. He then adjusted his belt and the strap to his sheath across his chest. “If we hurry we can get there before sundown, just in time for dinner.” Link spoke as he started to walk off into the field. Link felt Navi land on his head. “Hopefully it won’t start raining on us, so we can make it there dry.” he stated as he smiled at his little friend. Link and Navi headed off through the field onto their small journey to meet their old friend. Link trudged through the field. He stopped next to some dead grass. He studied it as it looked like there was old blood that had stained the ground. Navi looked at Link and then to the blood. “It looks like we missed something big that could have been dinner. Whoever killed it that probably had a good meal. Though I’m sure you probably would have scared the beast away before you could kill it.” Navi laughed. Link shook his head at Navi’s joke. “Very funny, I’m sure it would have been your fault when you screamed, ‘HEY LOOK DINNER!’” Link chuckled making fun of the small faerie. She always yelled out when she got excited. It’s just the way she was. He took another look at the blood covered ground. Something about it ran chills through him. Apparently he was just feeling off today. Link shook the feeling and headed off towards the town. They still had a long walk ahead of them if they wanted to be there before sundown. As they headed off, in the distance it started to sprinkle as a raspy thunder bellowed overhead. Author's Note I hoped you enjoyed this fanfic. This was the end…. Though it leaves you hanging.. .. I think that calls for a SEQUEL.. So look around for Fighter of Dimensions… it might explain who died and what happen… or maybe none of it really did happen… but who dreamt it all up… *Fighter of Dimensions Commenting Please add your comments or visit the external links to add your comments * Fanfiction.net * Bratchan DA -Fanfic by Bratchan Adventure Fanfic Category:RatedPG13